Poker – The History of The Enticing Game
The history of poker goes a long way back. It is more than close to eleven centuries old. It is based on the “domino strategy” or “stacked cards strategy”. It also involves the famous concept of “bluffing”. When you listen to all these common terms, it may seem to a novice that the game is a mixture or combination of a few common games. But it is not so. It has always been believed that poker was invented by the Chinese. The Chinese Emperor was playing “domino cards” with his spouse. And well, let’s just say he had a brain wave of sorts and voila! He invented something along the lines of Poker, which was later modified to the way we play it today.
This game has also been known to originate from the Egyptians. It has been discovered that Egyptians used playing cards, which they called “cards of treasure” for gambling games. These cards were very precious as they were made of ivory, cut into thin rectangular slices.
Another story of the origination of poker would lead us to the French territory. A game called “pochen” became an intriguing game in the early 17th century. The stakes were high in this game and there was excessive bluffing. This has been discovered to be similar to the modern day poker. The reason it spread to USA was because the French had settled in the Mississippi area for a while. It soon spread like wild fire from there. But it had a funny name. It was called “the cheating game”. This game became very popular because of its ethics. Can you believe that?! An ethical gambling game! Well, in a nutshell, this game seemed to be much better than card games, where any one could cheat and get away with it. Although it was named the “cheating game” it ended up being a much more honest way of playing.
By the 19th century poker had spread to all the coasts of America. It was the favorite time pass of soldiers in the army. It soon came to be known as “wild card” as incidentally it seemed to make men go “wild” while playing it, thus coining the name “wild card”. Another origin of this name is related to the fact that it was also played in the “wild” west. This game was later documented. It was refined a number of times by expert players who tried to pull out all the faults in the game. And over the years it came to be known as poker.
Poker is a very popular game. It has spread worldwide. It seems to be a game of strategy, hence a lot of people find it challenging. It is highly addictive. This game also shows its popularity in movies. It is always the game to be played by the famous tuxedo agents, remember Casino Royale? This game also has its variations in different countries but the central concept is the same everywhere. So if you haven’t tried this game, it’s never too late to do so now!
